Lewis Hamilton says he wouldn’t change a thing from the controversial Sunday at the British Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion took his eighth victory at Silverstone but did so after colliding with Max Verstappen on the opening lap, sending the Red Bull into the barrier at Copse.
Verstappen was immediately transferred to the hospital for checks following the 51G impact and Hamilton confirmed on Thursday that he made contact with the Red Bull driver after the race.
“I did give Max a call just to check if he’s OK and let him know the respect is still there,” he told the media. “Obviously, he’s perhaps not reciprocated, but that’s OK.
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“In terms of the move, I would do it exactly the way I did it last [time],” Lewis added.
“In terms of how I’ve reviewed it and analysed it from all my experience, and my experience obviously with over the years speaks for a lot, I wouldn’t change it.”
Red Bull’s main issue with the clash was the 10-second penalty Hamilton received, which they deem insufficient because he was still able to go on and claim victory.
Verstappen though was most upset after seeing his championship rival waving the Union Jack on the in-lap and in Parc Ferme after the chequered flag,
“They celebrated it like it was a World Championship win,” he told Sky Sports.
“I don’t think you can do that when you have just caused such a crash and the guy goes to hospital for checks.
“If it had been the other way around, I definitely would have deserved a kicking and my dad would tell me that.”
Hamilton though defended his exuberant reaction by claiming he hadn’t been informed of Verstappen being taken to hospital.
“I mean I don’t believe our behaviour was disrespectful,” he said “but as I said it’s one thing knowing and then celebrating what happened and there’s one thing not knowing and celebrating. As I said, I wasn’t aware.
“But it’s my home Grand Prix, we worked incredibly hard for god knows how long to get a result like that, and what a monumental moment it was for us to experience the whole home crowd being there for the first time [since 2019],” Hamilton also suggested.
“It wasn’t like an intentional celebration; it was just the joy of seeing so many people and so many people celebrating, being together, that’s the national emotion. I’m not going to hide my emotions. And it was an amazing feeling to see so many people.”